Assessing the impact of electric vehicle charging hubs on shared energy in Renewable Energy Communities according to the Italian regulation

Abstract Renewable energy communities (RECs) are decentralized energy systems in which local individuals, businesses, and organizations collaborate to generate, consume, store, and share renewable energy. Governments are increasingly recognizing the role of RECs in accelerating the adoption of renewable energy, offering incentives and regulatory support to encourage its development. Conversely, the proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) is profoundly affecting modern energy systems, engendering both challenges and opportunities for shared energy networks. This paper analyses the impact of different EV hubs on shared energy within RECs. The results show that when considering the installation of columns in a single area, it could be inferred that the residential center has the greatest impact in terms of energy that needs to be imported from REC, while the industrial area improves performance in terms of sharing. However, it is worth noting that as the demand for EV charging increases, scenarios are observed where the export of RECs is effectively reduced, but the total energy imported also increases. This trend is the result of the energy balance between the energy shared by EVs saturating the availability from renewable sources, creating a demand for imports even in time slots where, in the configuration without charging stations, export was present.